Answer: it depends. That is always the answer for every beekeeping question, or so it seems. Actually, there is one which is always ‘yes’ – see end of this article. When I had kept bees for only two or three years, I decided to forego queen excluders, to see what happened. This is actually quite … Read more
Find out how maths can transform your beekeeping I am no maths (‘math’ in the USA) genius, but I do like to mess about on a spreadsheet. The magic happens when data and calculations morph into a chart that conveys something useful. I have fiddled with plotting honey bee colony numbers over the season more … Read more
Sometimes we look at life on our beautiful planet with wonder and awe at the incredible way in which it all fits together so perfectly. Perhaps some people with a religious or spiritual leaning can see a guiding hand at work. Other times, bad things happen; floods or volcanic eruptions, storms, outbreaks of disease – … Read more
When Richelieu said, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” in Cardinal Richelieu (a play by Bulwer-Lytton in 1839) he was in a bit of a pickle. As a man of the cloth, he could not take up arms against his enemies, so he took up his pen. Having watched Kill Bill (1 and 2) … Read more
Spring is my favourite season, and spring has sprung at last. Critters are waking up and making baby critters; it’s getting warmer, and if bees can be happy, mine are. They are flying like crazy, like champagne bursting from a bottle as the cork pops. As the Covid-19 pandemic sweeps the globe, bringing fear and … Read more